RESIDENTS CONTACTING BOARD MEMBERS

Started by FredW5 • 11 replies • 2444 views

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FredW5 (Florida)
Posts: 177

Posted:

Any thoughts on rules on how HOA board members can be contacted by residents?
We have several residents who constantly call, or E-mail board members directly regarding petty items.
Thanks.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

You set the rules as the board member or members. Welcome to board membership... I told my residents to bring it up to the meeting. If they could not attend, put it in writing. We would read it at the open meeting and you have to deal with the decision made if required. Don't expect privacy unless it dictates it. (IE. hardships, health, or family situational). Plus do NOT submit an issue or request without a solution or a bid. If you do not, then you are letting others make up the solution. I don't care what solution you think up, just have one in mind...

Former HOA President

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnC46 on 08/07/2015 8:15 AM
We have a ourhoaname(at)gmail.com account. Owners are encouraged to send all Email to that house account and that account only.

Early on we had some issues with BOD Members responding to some Emails and stepping on the toes of other BOD Members making it look like we did not know what was going on and in somes cases it showed that some did not know our own policies. One BOD Member shot from the hip and did more harm then good. We then decided no BOD Member is to respond unless directed so by the President or the BOD.

Any Emails the MC receives from owners are also forwarded to the house Email address. When an owner calls the MC, they are asked to put things in writing and send to house Email account.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

We have a domain that provides e-mail addresses for our Directors, Committee chairs and Officers.
We list phone numbers of those who are willing to have numbers listed.

Communications from the membership is part of the job.

What I can suggest is to make sure that the issues are directed to the correct officer/chair.
maintenance items to the maintenance officer.
assessment issues to the treasurer
records request to the secretary
architectural requests to the architectural chair
All others to the President.

GenoS (Florida)
Posts: 4,276

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By FredW5 on 08/07/2015 7:12 AM
Any thoughts on rules on how HOA board members can be contacted by residents?
We have several residents who constantly call, or E-mail board members directly regarding petty items.
Thanks.

We have the same thing here. I think you have to just put up with it. Or put up a box in a common area labeled, "Insert Petty Complaints Here".

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

We have a ourhoaname(at)gmail.com account. Owners are encouraged to send all Email to that house account and that account only.

Early on we had some issues with BOD Members responding to some Emails and stepping on the toes of other BOD Members making it look like we did not know what was going on and in somes cases it showed that some did not know our own policies. One BOD Member shot from the hip and did more harm then good. We then decided no BOD Member is to respond unless directed so by the President or the BOD.

Any Emails the MC receives from owners are also forwarded to the house Email address. When an owner calls the MC, they are asked to put things in writing and send to house Email account.

AllisonD (Florida)
Posts: 449

Posted:

Residents email me directly and sometimes call. I call and email them back when I feel like dealing with them. No one says I must respond immediately. They all know I work full time. I always answer them and make their issues a priority even if its petty. I look at the emails quickly and listen to the voice mail just to make sure its not really an emergency like an irrigation flood, but I triage after that. It makes no difference to me if they email and call once or many times. Its not going to make me respond any faster.

ScottH13 (Illinois)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Been an hoatalk member for a little while. Thought it time to finally add to solutions. Hope this helps...
I dislike walking around my 33 bldg., 127 unit, Townhome community. It's had to do our walk-around or any reason, and not get stopped 2-3 or even 4-5 times to get scolded for 1) something we simply don't have an immediate answer for, or 2) worse, never heard of until this homeowner brought it. We also get routine (not frequently, but often) e-mails or phone calls.

For the "driveby" or walk-up owners interrupting our visual inspections, I have created business cards that lists our HOA website, The HOA Board (collective) e-mail address, Property Manager office number and PM direct office number (emergencies only). Each board member also has an individual e-mail address, and most homeowners know them, but we discourage their use for HOA issues that demand board engagement.

This has helped tremendously. Lastly, as President of the HOA, I wrote in our quarterly newsletter, in the "Notes from the President" section, that individual board members do not have authority to handle individual member issues and that all correspondence must go through our PM (preferred) or to our Board mailbox, or addressing their issue could be delayed.

In closing, I find that most people understand and accept our roles, and our need as an Association to follow our accepted processes and procedures. Open honest communication seems to be a prescription for recovery of bad habits.

PatJ2 (North Carolina)
Posts: 14

Posted:

Scott,

Thank you for this information. These are some great ideas. It sounds like your Board has it together and if I'm ever on the Board again I will certainly use this.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By ScottH13 on 08/09/2015 12:02 PM

"Notes from the President" section, that individual board members do not have authority to handle individual member issues and that all correspondence must go through our PM (preferred) or to our Board mailbox, or addressing their issue could be delayed.

This is the main thing to get across.

When I'm stopped, I explain that the issue would be a Board decision and I'll make sure it's on the agenda. I then invite them to attend the meeting or place the issue in writing (e-mail, snail mail) so the issue is presented the way they want it presented and things don't get mixed up in trying to recall the conversation.

JerryD5 (Colorado)
Posts: 218

Posted:

Here are my 2 cents. When I joined the board 6 years ago, we used our personal email addresses. No one questioned it and we were basically content with that. I would say that 95% of communication went from homeowners to the MC and then to the board. In our HOA, we have 5 board members with a 3-member design review committee (husband was on the board and wife was on the committee so they had our contact information). Fast forward a few years and the husband and wife became disgruntled with the actions of the board (and she was continually outvoted on design review requests). She sent my unlisted phone number and email address in a press release to the entire media pressence in our large metro area (3.5 million people). Unbenowst to her I had gotten rid of my home phone so that wasn't a big deal (I have a cell phone that only the PM and a few neighbors have). I did get several media inquiries to my email address and did grant a few interviews. After that, we all got generic Gmail accounts that will be passed on to new board members from the outgoing member. In addition, any communication from a homeowner must come through the MC 100% of the time. Most of the time they are issues that can be dealt with easily. As a side note, we were told by our attorney that any private email accounts we used to conduct board business were subject to discovery in a lawsuit.

So I would caution you and the board not to use your personal emails for sure. You can still be interactive with the residents as long as they know 1 person can not act unilaterally on behalf of the rest of the board. Luckily of me, most of the inquiries I get from neighbors are: When are we getting new mulch? How come our grass looks bad? What can be done about my noisy neighbors?

Good luck with your situation.

FredW5 (Florida)
Posts: 177

Posted:

Thank you, everyone for your suggestions!! Very helpful.

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